Yeah, but Schilling has only one K- as a strikeout pitcher, him not getting the strikeouts means the Yanks are getting too many good swings on it. But fuckin' A if that Bellhorn- Bellhorn!- homerun doesn't give a MUCH needed cushion.

More importantly, Schilling has 66 pitches and hasn't blinked. If his ankle were going to bother him (in terms of stamina) it would have by now. He's a good bet to go long, and possibly all 9, unless the Yanks start straightening out those foul shots. Which is why I share BoSoxFan's concern that a bigger lead would be nice- they say Wakefield's being saved for tomorrow, but I don't like the season riding on a tired Arroyo or Lowe holding a 1 run lead if Schilling blinks in the next couple of innings.

I haven't eaten dinner yet- I'm trying to decide if I should go now and catch the last inning, or just wait it out and hope this doesn't go extra. But unlike games 1-3, I haven't drunk a drop since Saturday! Maybe that's the secret- the Sox can't win if I drink!

I haven't eaten dinner yet- I'm trying to decide if I should go now and catch the last inning, or just wait it out and hope this doesn't go extra. Do what I did, go to the bar and get dinner there (and beer).

And Bellhorn is the hero? He phoned it in all season, set K records, then golfed one off a stunned fan. This better not end with some crazy shit 5 run rally with 2 out in the ninth. My wife hid all sharp instruments and took my belt...

I'm glad lbb is posting more frequently on this thread- that must mean the Sox are about to blow this wide open! :) Oh crap, I didn't just jinx us, did I? Oh crap... sorry, Baseball Gods, my hubris was wholly unintended!!

Suxx to be Francona- pull Schilling, and they tear you apart if the tired bullpen can't hold it. Don't pull him, and they tear you apart if he lets it go. That said... no reason he couldn't send Schilling with the 1-baserunner rule: have Arroyo ready to go at a moment's notice, and the first runner to reach against Schilling is his last hitter. Why not try to get another 1, 2 outs against him? Little's error last year was in having Martinez there, but without a quick hook!

Total bush league. Most talented player on the planet and he cheats. I was already aggravated with the amount of time that A-Rod was preening himself at the plate during that at bat. As a Rangers fan, I feel great shame at ever having liked the guy.

This game is too good. Two reverse calls? Busted ankle "New England Baseball Lore"? A Mark Bellhorn home run? A year-long starting pitcher on in the eighth with your regular season set-up guy sitting picking his ass? Leiter trying with all his mighty control not to smack McCarver upside the head? This is outstanding shit. P.S. ARod is not a fucking asshole. ARod is simply a fucking Yankee.

right call, though I don't quite get why that's not allowed but takeout slides and running over the catcher are. and WHY THE FUCK is Jeter sent back to first? He was on second by the time this happened, and had it not happened, he still had second safely. Is it some kind of penalty? Ridiculous!

It was interference lbb, so Jeter can't advance (as in you can't throw him out trying to score after the ball has been slappped from your hand). Knocking the ball from the catcher is different as he is right there and the only thing you are really doing is running into him. If A-Rod ran into him and knocked the ball loose it's kosher. The reachingg out and swatting the glove arm, not so much.

So what if Rodriguez is out, the run still scores, don't it? One out, that's the number of fingers you need to pick your nose, you dummies. No interference he gets maybe one base. Kind of a judgement call by the umps where he ends up.

No lbb, because interference makes the ball dead, and the runner out. As such, Jeter does not get the benefit of the extra bases, and stays at 2nd (which he would have had with the out play). Otherwise, we'd see this play all the time- guy on first, bunt it down the line then tackel the pitcher. Hey, the run still scores, right!? :) Damn, Arroyo. Good job, we can survive that run- now Francona, you better not send him out for the 9th! Go Sox! Pad that lead!

So where does knocking the ball out of the catcher's mitt in a play at the plate figure in all this? You can collide with a catcher and jar the ball loose, but you can't swat at the glove. You'll notice that players will drop a shoulder and try to pound it out of the catcher, but not one of them ever makes a grabbing motion at the glove. Yankee fans at the stadium can complain all they want, but when they see the replay at home tonight, they'll realize it was the right call. Unless, of course, they are blind. Throwing stuff on the field? That's about as bush league as what ARod did.

It was interference lbb, so Jeter can't advance (as in you can't throw him out trying to score after the ball has been slappped from your hand). Fair, I guess. Knocking the ball from the catcher is different as he is right there and the only thing you are really doing is running into him. If A-Rod ran into him and knocked the ball loose it's kosher. The reachingg out and swatting the glove arm, not so much. Well, the arm was in the base path -- you could see that, because Rodriguez had to double back to get to the bag. And as for the catcher thing, by knocking the catcher over, you could be stopping him from making a second play elsewhere (it's been known to happen).

BoSoxFan: you are three outs too early for that... Actually I am taking it one out at at time. A Rod being called for interference is something that does not happen to the Red Sox in this type of game in my and my father's lifetime. I was thanking the Gods for breaking the string. They still might lose, but they won't be cheated out of it.

What tieguy said. This is a complete farce. And to make it even worse, look at the riot cops. They're not paying the least attention to the proto-riot, wherever that is -- they're all craning to see past each other to watch the pitch.

Drood: U.S. sports aren't without their embarrassments, but for the most part we confine our violence and rioting to post-game celebrations. Is there a single U.S. pro sports franchise that has attracted its own hooligan club?

Interesting side note on intereference rule: If the ump deemed a double play was possible, both runners could have been called out. Wouldn't that have been fun. Jeter was on first, not second bern. Perhaps you were thinking back to Cairo being on second when jeter knocked him in on his hit

RCade: Not saying soccer doesn't have it's problems. It's just usually US sports are portrayed by the media over here (I'm in Canada) as being pure as the driven snow when it comes to that sort of thing.

Why were the series set up to give the AL the extra day of rest after a game 7? More of the NLCS getting screwed. With respect, I think the AL champions will need an extra week of rest to get over this series.

Unbelievable. Another Game 7. The baseball gods really want to make Boston suffer. We know. Thoe were my first words to my fiance (I feel obligated since she clearly has Stockholm Syndrome thanks to me). I just want to point out I am a mute of necessity, not malice: I haven't looked at any of the game threads since the Sox started winning. Not that anyone's missing me, just sayin'. Attention college economics majors throughout the Northeast: a decent term paper could be made out of studying economic productivity in Northeastern United States during this October. Also, what kind of riot were those cops prepped for? Some sort of all-you-can-eat todo at Sizzler, I guess. And why are their helmets from the DOT? I'd like to personally thank Curt Schilling, Trot Nixon, et al for turning great playoff moments in Sox-Yanks history into uncomfortable moments by personally thanking Jesus. How the hell did we get *two* calls reversed against the Yanks in The Stadium? Somewhere Jose Offerman just kicked his dog. Sox fan on local Fox news affiliate: "Oh, it was ay-mah-zin! My hot stopt!"

I didn't mind Schilling's comment to Fox so much (didn't hear Nixon's), it seemed heartfelt. However, I did notice that, after Orlando Cabrera singled in the 4th, when he got to first base, he crossed himself and pointed to the sky. Just out of curiosity, with the earth's orientation and point in its rotation at that time of the day, how did he know that he was pointing to heaven instead of, y'know, the other place? Seems like you'd need an astrolabe to get that one right.

Eh, don't get me wrong: I've been known to beg the Heavenly Host in moments like this, but it just gives me the hives when he answers every question with how he became a Christian 7 years ago. Maybe next job interview I'll relate everything to when I ate a sandwich in 1988. All the same I just dug up my SoSH password just to say thanks.

I can't believe it. I'm going through Google News, reading sports columnist after sports columnist, being told that this is actually happening, but I can't believe it. I still have Sierra's third-strike swing frozen in my head, looking like it's right behind the ball, about to hit it into the centre-field seats. I can't believe it.

I wonder how goddam's doing. She's at the game. thanks for thinking of me rocketman. got home around 1 and i'm cold and wet and i think i lost a toe somewhere on 163rd street. to give you a clue as to how my night was, this is the pencil i was using to keep score. haven't read through all the comments yet. but, regarding the arod interference thing, i was in the right field bleachers about 10 rows behind the flag pole in monument park. we really had no clue as to what was going on. people kept calling friends at home to see what the deal was. we all cringed when people started throwing shit. from what i could see it was basically mooks in the upper deck. for as bad as the bleachers get at least they generally keep it taunting and shit like that. some of the people that sit in the upper deck are just fucking idiots. the riot police threw us for a loop too. we were wondering what would happen if the ball got stuck in between a couple of them. figured they were there because of the people throwing shit. the guy sitting next to me was trying to be optimistic and said they were there so when the yankees win it in the ninth they would stop us from rushing the field. but then they left in the bottom of the inning so his theory was shot. needless to say it was a disappointing night. i usually write off losses i see by saying that at least i was able to get out to the stadium and see 2 good teams and blah, blah, blah. and, well, it was neat to be there to see these 2 battle it out. but like i said, it was disappointing. it wasn't a "drive off the gw bridge" kind of night (thank god i'm not going tomorrow). but it sucked nonetheless. so, i'm gonna go to bed soon and hope that my toe makes it back home by the morning.

I got no problems with Schill's comments about God, and I'm a die-hard atheist. He's never been one of those guys who invokes Jesus after every game. He was pretty quiet about it even tonight -- he didn't pray for a win, he just wanted the strength to compete. I'm OK with that.

I've got no issue with it because it was sincere. I'm not a big religion person either. It wasn't like he was accepting "Best Rap Video" for "Smack the Ho in the Fucking Biscuits" and then said "I'd like to thank all the thugs, playas, playettes and bitches out there, and the Lord Almighty also"

damn touchpad erased half my stuff. I can't remember everything I was writing. Well, to be quick: anyway, it was sincere and at a moment that would be understandable to feel gracious towards your faith, whatever that may be.

yerfatma, I like the way the guy in your link turned down tickets because he brings bad luck to the Red Sox: UPDATE: Glad tidings for Boston fans. Just turned down tickets for tonight's game at the Stadium. Can't burden the boys again with my personal 0-5 lifetime postseason Sox record (0-2 in '86, 0-1 in '90, 0-2 in '04).

My wife asked me what Boston's chances were when NY went up 3-0 in the series. My explanation: "Boston is lying on the ground, face down. New York is standing above them, with their foot on their neck. They have a .357 Magnum pointing at the back of Boston's head, and they've pulled the trigger and the bullet is halfway down the barrel." Her response: "Oh. Not good then. And you need to stop playing those video games."

yerfatma, I like the way the guy in your link turned down tickets because he brings bad luck to the Red Sox: I saw that and thought, "There's a true fan." I don't know if I could do that. Then again I've only attended one Sox-Yanks tilt in real life and the Sox won 8-3. But it wasn't a playoff game and Dwight Evans hit a home run, so I'm not sure how applicable that would be. "And you need to stop playing those video games." Yuh, in real life it's not so easy to get a refund from a hooker.

"I don't know; I haven't seen a replay . . . He was coming at my gut with his glove. I have the right to be in the line. It was a big momentum change. I don't want the umpires to meet anymore because when they do the calls go against the Yankees."

to give you a clue as to how my night was, this is the pencil i was using to keep score.goddam, I sure hope the Yankees spring for the non-toxic pencils. I personally prefer fingernails. Game 4 and 5 were spent annhilating both hands, Game 6 spent cleaning up with the proper manicurial tools (because there was nothing left).

I never cease to be amazed at the number of men who use the word "girl" as the ultimate insult. May you all have daughters, so that you get to see, up close and personal, the look in their eyes when you make that stupid little slip of the tongue.

I never cease to be amazed at the number of men who use the word "girl" as the ultimate insult. May you all have daughters, so that you get to see, up close and personal, the look in their eyes when you make that stupid little slip of the tongue. I use "girl" as an insult too. Big deal.

Despite hating both teams, I hope the Sox win tonight and then the media can start writing articles about how by beating the yankees in a game 7, the curse will be lifted. Then they are promptly swept by the Astros/Cardinals in the WS.

...Then they are promptly swept by the Astros/Cardinals in the WS That's almost a certainty. Whoever survives this battle will be emotionally and physically spent with very little time to recover. But if the Red Sox beat the Yankees tonight, the way they did it, will be bigger than any world series. FOX will probably lose 50% of its audience. Now the real question is: IF the Red Sox win tonight, will it be remembered as the greatest comeback in MLB history, or the biggest choke in MLB history? I vote comeback...

I never cease to be amazed by the amount of energy spent huffing about things that do not matter instead of things that do. I understand all the crapo-rhetoric about "owning" the language to frame the terms of the argument and control where things go, but do you honestly think eradicating the word "girl" from men's vocabulary will fix an existing problem? And do you think this is the proper forum for your Reducation Camp? It's like if everything stayed the same but you removed all racial epithets from general consciousness; it wouldn't improve things one bit. Symptoms v. disease and all that rot. Or "gangrene". Whatever's the proper term.

Dibble and Patrick are calling A-Rod's slap at the ball a clean play, using this as an example for whiny Sox fans: "If it was Trot Nixon, you'd be applauding him for trying to get on base." I gotta disagree bigtime, I still think there should be integrity no matter what the stakes. And on the overturned homerun call, I totally expected Matsui to come clean and say it was a homerun. Aren't the Japanese known for their honesty? I bet it was killing him to not say anything.

Greatest comeback - they had to fight every step more than the Yanks had to blow every chance (e.g. coming from behind in games 4 & 5, having a guy with a dislocated tendon work 7 solid innings). Not that Yanks haven't done their share of choking.

yerfatma: I never cease to be amazed by the amount of energy spent huffing about things that do not matter instead of things that do. I understand all the crapo-rhetoric about "owning" the language to frame the terms of the argument and control where things go, but do you honestly think eradicating the word "girl" from men's vocabulary will fix an existing problem? And do you think this is the proper forum for your Reducation Camp? So let's see: - One comment is an "amaz[ing]...amount of energy sepnt huffing..."; - You, apparently, are the arbitrator of what does and doesn't matter; - I, apparently, made some attempt to "eradicat[e] the word 'girl' from men's vocabulary"; and - I'm setting up some kind of "Reducation[sic] Camp". At the rate you build strawmen, I'm amazed you can get into your house. It's disingenuous to claim that no harm is done by using the term "girl" as an insult, and it's dishonest to claim that anyone who points out such harm is trying to set up a "Reducation Camp".

do you honestly think eradicating the word "girl" from men's vocabulary will fix an existing problem? I do. At the very least, we'll start calling each other fags more often. I thought LBB has a good point with what was, by most standards, a mild callout. Anyone who can't handle that rebuke should learn to take his medicine like a man.

Dibble and Patrick are calling A-Rod's slap at the ball a clean play Well, it isn't. In fact, that specific act is covered in the MLB Umpire manual: quotation from section 6.1: "[w]hile contact may occur between a fielder and runner during a tag attempt, a runner is not allowed to use his hands or arms to commit an obviously malicious or unsportsmanlike act such as grabbing, tackling, intentionally slapping at the baseball, punching, kicking, flagrantly using his arms or forearms, etc. to commit an intentional act of interference unrelated to running the bases."from The Hardball Times If they didn't call it, I'd half-expect Cabrera to lay a bunt down the next inning and do a spin-kick to pitcher's head when he came close.

i heard the dibble/patrick think too and sort of agree with them. i don't think it was bush-league. i may be mistaken, but i think arod got away with that play earlier in the year. so why not try it again? maybe it would've been a better idea to just plow into whoever was in his way, but he made a split second decision and unfortunately chose poorly. i'm not saying the play was legal but i wouldn't call it bush-league. and grum, there's a big difference between swatting a ball out of a glove and spin-kicking someone. there was nothing dirty about the play, it just wasn't legal. re: fan behaviour last night. please don't call them fans. they are undesirable individuals who were unfortunately able to attend the game. and if i were a man i don't know how much i'd really be insulted being called a girl by someone who feels the need to call himself dirkdiggler.

and if i were a man i don't know how much i'd really be insulted being called a girl by someone who feels the need to call himself dirkdiggler. I am a man and I am not insulted by being called a girl. If I insulted anyone else by using the term then they need to look at how I used it. My little girl jumps up and down and screams when she doesn't get her way. She is 18 months old, and she is the most beautiful living being I have ever seen. She is the joy in my life. And, I believe all little girls and boys act this way. I should have used the term "baby, or infant" but it has much less impact with the point I was trying to make. (i.e. Dennis Miller admits he wouldn't be where he is today without using the f word in every sentence.) Good points were made by many, but had very little to do with baseball. They were offended, not me. And I use dirkdiggler because it's just funny to me. Nothing else. Stop trying to read into it. Let's talk baseball.

but that could just be the impending sense of doom that i'm feeling. Like Red Sox fans are going to have any empathy for that (no offense intended goddam). For the first time in a long long time (childhood), I'm not expecting the Sox to lose. Please note, I'm not claiming or expecting they are going to win tonight either. I honestly don't know what the hell is going to happen.

For the first time in a long long time (childhood), I'm not expecting the Sox to lose. I feel the same way too. Haven't felt that way since the game Pudge hit the foul pole. I knew the Sox would lose in the Bucky Dent one-game playoff. I don't necessarily think it's 'Mo', just a gut feeling. Eerie...

doh! sorry. gloom. (no need to apologize dirk.) was a long night. and tonight's gonna be even longer. dusted, i noticed a lot of bad yankee mojo going around message boards and blogs and such. i'm trying to counter that by bringining my mom with me tonight. she's been a good luck charm this year. plus today is mantle's birthday (her favorite player). am i grasping at straws? yes...yes i am.

You're doing a good job of it. Here's what I was just about to post: I think I have a crush on goddam. She: a. wrote this excellent and profane commentary b. scored the game c. proved the maddog heritage of her name by chewing the pencil down d. all while wearing nail polish

For the first time in a long long time (childhood), I'm not expecting the Sox to lose. Makes one of us. Are you trying to jinx the whole thing right now? There are plenty of opportunities between now and 8:20. Think of all the cracks in the road you might step on. I personally think "[sic]" suggests a lack of confidence in one's argument. This is a goddamn messageboard, not my senior thesis. I can talk reel pretty when I needs to. If you have confidence in your arguments, refute mine, not the mess I made trying to communicate them. That's enough on that; there are far more important things to worry about.

And I have to work at the dining hall for every one of these games...where we close at midnite in Atlanta. Luckily, we have TV's. Consequently, the last 3 nights, we have got NO work done on time because everyone sits around watching the game. I expect no less tonight =)